Tablescape Scenery: A Review

So, I try to get my money’s worth when I buy things – Nerf and Plastic Crack included (no really) – my gaming mats are plain felt that I buy from a haberdashery here in Blackpool for under £15 a pop; and while they’re not detailed, they’ll do for what I want. At some point in the future, I may buy a gaming mat proper, but we’ll see.

Time for a new Codex / Model / Blaster…

However, while scenery can be done on the cheap if you DIY, you need a fair amount of skill for it to look any goodº, and my previous attempts have been somewhat…shitlacklustre less than optimal. So much so, that I’m not going to even give you any evidence as to the (lack) of quality shown thereof.
Also, with my building/painting schedule already being longer than the tapestry of Bayeux*, I’d rather whatever I get my hands on is ready to play straight out of the box.

So armed with these criterion we can get a sense of how to review some scenery:

Price

Ease of assembly (or pre-assembled / non required)

Ease of painting (or non required)

Durability

And on top of these, I will may add an entirely subjective comparison to thesethreepieces from Geedubbs. Honestly, I feel they still stand the test of time, but they are 40k-centric so can only come out when we’re playing 40k.

Today we’ll be looking at the Dugout Range from Tablescape, for use with 25-32mm¤ games, and as with all of their scenery this is prepainted. I chose this range as I acquired a command bunker of theirs ages ago from a third party. (A shop that has since stopped trading called Zombies Ate My Wookie, if you wanted to know)
I chose another command bunker and some earthwork straights, which came to a little over £40 with P+P

So straight off the bat, this might seem a bit expensive, but you’re paying not just for the scenery, but for it to arrive prepainted. This seems about right to me, but alas the painting leaves a little to be desired – compared to my original piece and the pictures on the website, these new pieces seem almost half done. They don’t pop. Now maybe my original piece had been worked on by their original owner, but they still don’t quite hold up to their picture online. However, I could take these out of their box and use them on a battlefield the same day without any fuss, and what they’re lacking in paint I could add myself. They seem to be made of a really durable foam. They’re impossibly light, but seem tough enough to withstand our gruelling, hamfisted wargaming ways.

Comparing to the Geedubbs Cities of Death buildings…there’s hardly a comparison to be had. They’re probably too different, but…

No mold lines to remove

No building time

No painting time (even with mine looking half done)

Can be used in other systems without looking out of place

Not a silly amount of skulls everywhere

Quite simply, if the units I received reflected the paintwork on the pictures I’d give these a solid 5 stars, even with them being £40 delivered.

Shop photos

Earthwork Straights Shop PhotoCommand Bunker Shop Photo

Sadly they don’t look like they should, as you can see. So they’re going to have to get…

A lukewarm recommendation from me.
The pieces themselves are pretty damned good, but they’re not reflective of their photos, almost as much as the picture of a Big Mac and the reality.

PEACE
Twibz

º Seriously, go check this guy out. At some point in the future, I’ll go through his videos and do something of his.
* That’s pretty fucking long, btw
¤ They state on their website 25-30mm, but these work with the new size sculpts in 40k.